L-shaped sealing rings are known to those skilled in the art. Thus, they have been used for years as a sealing element between a magneto inductive flow measuring device and a separate process connection, e.g. by the firm, Endress+Hauser, in the products, Promag H and Dosimag, as well as also by the firm, Krohne, in its Optiflux 6000 product.
The known sealing rings can in the installed state in the case of an expansion, e.g. because of temperature increase, expand essentially perpendicularly at two surfaces. On the one hand, they expand perpendicularly at the medium-contacting area whose cross section is shown in FIG. 2 as line 11, on the other hand, perpendicularly at the area, which is represented in the cross section in FIG. 2 by the line perpendicular to line 4 through point 18. The expansion in the region of line 11 can lead to an undesired change of the cleanability or of the pressure loss of the flow meter 12 in FIG. 3. Furthermore, it can lead in the case of strong and frequent temperature fluctuations through repeated expansion and contraction of the seal across the edge of the lining 14 or of the process connection 13 in FIG. 3 to a damaging of the seal with concurrent limiting of the sealing action or of the hygienic properties. Shorter service times of the seals can be the result.
Japanese Patent, JP 2005 003 141 A discloses in FIG. 3 an L-shaped ring, which abuts as a spacer on a W-shaped sealing element in such a manner that a leg of the W-shaped sealing element is arranged between the area to be sealed and the L-shaped ring. Therefore, the L-shaped ring of FIG. 3 does not act as a sealing ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,380 A discloses a number of sealing ring variants. Thus e.g. FIGS. 20-22A show an S-shaped sealing ring. However, there are no L-shaped sealing rings. German Patent, DE 103 12 824 A1 discloses an O-shaped seal, wherein the sealing action, however, in the case of the exerting of a compression, is directed from the outside inwards, i.e. the material of the sealing ring is pressed toward the center.